Donald Bowyer Composer

Don Bowyer is Dean of the College of Fine Arts at Arkansas State University. Having previously taught at every level from kindergarten through university in the United States, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Sweden, Bowyer received his Doctor of Arts from the University of Northern Colorado, Master of Arts from California State University-Northridge, and Bachelor of Arts from West Virginia Wesleyan College.

Active in the fields of composition, music technology, and performance, Bowyer has published more than 60 pieces of music, developed an educational computer program that has been used in at least 120 countries, and has performed as a trombonist in more than 40 countries.  Among other performing credits, he spent five years playing trombone on eleven cruise ships in the Caribbean Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Gulf of Alaska. The first ten didn’t sink.  (See donbowyer.com/aground for an account of the eleventh.)

Bowyer and his wife have also served as foster parents, having provided a home to eighteen foster children between 2003 and 2010.

Albums

Abrazo: The Havana Sessions

Release Date: June 10, 2016
Catalog Number: AR0001
21st Century
Cuban
Jazz
Percussion
Piano
Voice
In November 2015, less than one year after these initial steps toward fully opening relations, PARMA Recordings produced the first of its recording projects in Havana. The resulting album, ABRAZO: THE HAVANA SESSIONS on the newly-minted Ansonica Records label, presents works for big band, small jazz combo, choir, and chamber ensembles by composers Bunny Beck, Roger Bourland, Don Bowyer, Margaret Brandman, John Carollo, Timothy Miller, Mel Mobley, and Michael Murray performed by current or former members of the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba, the Buena Vista Social Club, Irakere, and many more.